On
this page you will find all the information I have collected and used
for my own interest, repairs and modifications on the keyboards,
synthesizers, & sound boards found in my studio setting. Some
of
the information is general and some of it rare. I hope you find this
page helpful in understanding these musical instruments.

General Maintenance
& Repair TipsWhen
cleaning any electrical component, try using a can of
compressed air before spraying or applying chemicals. Even if you plan
on using chemicals it's still a good idea to start with a can of air.
Air it
out before you wash it out. Words to live by.

Consult
people who repair recording consoles & the like. These
technicians
have the experience & are usually up to date on great,
currently
available, cleaning & lubricating chemicals.

Take
your time. Maintaining, modifying or repairing your musical equipment
should never be a rush job. Drop me an email or get advice from
groups, forums or blogs found on-line.

Always be on the
lookout for good cleaning chemicals.Use the net to
save yourself time & money searching for a desired
cleaning or lubrication solution.

Cleaning
Buttons, Faders, Pots, Sliders

My opinion of DeoxIT FaderLube...
Because of the residue it creates, I find I use it as a last option.

DeoxIT
FaderLube F5 (5%) part#F5S-H6 is a common product used to clean volume,
tuning, joystick
and arpeggiator pots. First take the plastic knobs off your component,
then remove the
individual PCB boards from the synthesizer or component's body panel.
In
some cases you will have to
fully unscrew individual PCB boards that the pots are connected to.
Once the PCB board has been removed, spray the DeoxIT onto the desired
pot. Spray at
a downward angle,
trying not to get any of the spray residue on the actual circuit board.
DeoxIT dries gummy, and over time will show up green & gummy.
DeoxIT
sprays pretty heavy. After applying DeoxIT, turn the pot knob back and
forth while wet
with DeoxIT so that you get the solution down into the pot fixture.
This should get any dust or sticky stuff that has collected around the
fixture. Stiff movement aorund
the pot knob as well as any audibal scratching noise should be gone
after application. I
spray each knob twice and after each spray I move the knob back and
forth many times. DeoxIT can be found for about $12-15 a can at a
number of on-line retailers. Try not to be
messy, as the more you apply the more you will have to remove.

While DeoxIT is the most abundant and available, my current cleaner
lube of choice is...

Miller-Stephenson
MS-738 "Contact Re-Nu & Lube".

This
product, while a little expensive, is fantastic in application, with
an end
result that leaves 0 residue. Application of the product is for the
most
part the same as the DeoxIT. But the end result is a well lubricated
invisible residue finish. Having used both, DeoxIT & MS-738, I
feel it's safe to say that the MS-738 is
probably the best on the market. Email me & let me know what
chemicals have given you good sucess, amd let me know how you have used
it
& what you used it on. I am always open for good chemical
advise.

When
replacing a battery or a transformer, match the battery or transformer
with the one that is broken. Just because it's the same size as the
other or looks just like the other or fits into the housing like the
other, doesn't mean it's the same. Sorry this is just a common mistake
that has showed up more than once when I have been asked to repair a
component or synth.

KickRaTT,
I performed & released music under this title between
1989
to
2002. I also used the name for a mobile digital recording
service
that I offered to DJs for House Parties & Clubs. My field
recording
service
also went under the title of DATMAN. At live performances I still use
the KickRaTT name in
reference to my hardware rig. For the most part, the
KickRaTT name is more historical to me now, yet The logo above has been
used
on countless tapes, CDs & t-shirts for self-promotional
efforts, in
Florida, California
& the Pacific Northwest. Fond memories & forgotten
efforts.

To
get rid of Cleaning Lube Residue

On
pots and switches that get stiff and gunky, I usually use Isopropyl
alcohol to clean the parts first, then lube with a sparing amount of
contact cleaner. Using the Miller-Stephenson MS-238,is
a waste of good cleaner/lube. The alcohol works just as a solvent,
after it's all clean, then use the contact cleaner. If I don't have the
99 % type, I use the drug store
stuff. They usually have 2 kinds, one is 70% alcohol & 30 %
water,
the prefered version is 91% alcohol & 9% water. Also a product,Electrolube
DFL spray works great on many mechanical parts
that
you want to stay clean and dry. Adds a Teflon dry coating with no oils.
If you use a syringe to apply the alcohol, you can get it into pots and
semi-sealed switches easily.

For
really stubburn gunk, I use denatured alcohol. It's stronger, and
available by the quart in the paint section of any hardware store.
However, be careful around polystyrene plastics with any cleaner.
Polystyrene plastics melt really easily.

To
get rid of FLUX Residue

If you have had
to modify or had to repair the components found within your musical
gear, you have probably had to use your soldering iron. For repairs and
mods to a commercial PCB, I always use a CLEAN standard solder, which
means my type of solder is going to create a FLUX residue that
I will
need to CLEAN up after the solder has cooled. The tecnique I
have
used to remove the FLUX after a repair or mod to an already populated
PCB, is to use a small brush with denatured alcohol. First scrub the
flux loose, then place a folded paper towel
over the wet area and scrub or dab lightly from the top side to absorb
the wet flux into the towel. This keeps the flux residue from spreading
all over the pcb.

I
have owned and service a number of these modules over the years. I
understand the appeal. The manufacturing of these sound modules
drasticly changes in 1998. Production of these sound modules went to
China in 1998 and stayed in China up to when Creative
purchased E-mu corporation. All of the sound modules made
prior to
1998 were made in the USA. Currently Creative has all E-mu products as
listed OUT OF SERVICE, and no longer even supports information,
documents,
downloads or operating system updates for any E-mu product produced
prior to 2008. There seem to be a number of opsys FATAL situations that
render the E-mu products produced after 1998, useless. So not only is
there little to no support for these products, they are prone to fatal
error death.

After
re-installation of operating system v1.31 I got this message..."Error!
Code = 001 Fatal: Ftrap error"

Attempts
to diagnose the station without a ROM chip yeilded this message..."Error!
Code = 000 Missing Tag!"

You
also get this last error message if you attempt to install without ROM
chip.

I
used a Windows XP serv. 3 with the E-loader application to re-install
various versions of the XL7 command station operating systems , in my
attempts to resolve these FATAL ERROR messages (see above service
notes).

Contact
me if you are having a hard time finding any of these legacy E-mu
softwares; E-loader or OS uploader. I do have all the opsys files
versions 1.1, 1.31
& 2.0 all
supporting documents for XL7 command station.

I
was unable to get E-loader to work correctly under Windows 7.E-loader
does require Java runtime. I do suggest finding a Windows XP
workstation or laptop.

while
using the E-loader application on Windows XP

I
have found that with everything connected properly the application will
display the message that there is NO DEVICE AVAILABLE TO RECEIVE or
that NO RECEIVE REQUEST AVAILABLE???

I
have fixed this by reselecting my TARGET MIDI DEVICE.

By
doing such, the application reestablishes communication with the XL7
command station.

A
difference between the two operating systems or as a result of hardware
failure, after the downgrade operating system re-installation, v2.0
-> v1.31, I observed that the ON/OFF button on my XL7, turned
the
unit OFF immediately once depressed. In my previous XL7 v2.0, pressing
this button initiated a 5 second countdown.

My
attempts to fix this FATAL ERROR on the XL7 were unsuccessfull. These
were attempt to reinstall Command Station .dli file for versions 1.1
& 1.31. After both re-installations the same FATAL ERROR
messages
were displayed with or without ROM card chip installed.

I also moved the ROM chip from slot(0) to slot (3) to see if this had
any effect on the various FATAL ERROR messages I received.

Re-installing the various operating systems for the XL7 did not solve
the problem.

For
anyone maintaining a Windows XP or 7 DAW as part of their studio,
&
who has a need for the Emu sample collection, & who wants the
synthesis engine of the Emu command stations, I would seriously
consider these two products; EmulatorX3 & ProteusVX. These two
products in conjunction with my Xboard make for one awesome sampler /
rompler setup, with strong hands on synthesis abilities.

I have also found most, if not all of
the emu sound module samples available on the web.Links

This
synthesizer was designed and built by the Keio Laboratories of Tokyo,
Japan 1983-84,
it replaced the Poly6. The Poly6 was one of the last machines built
prior to
the third revelation in modern synthesizer design: the digital
synthesizer.
(The first was Bob Moog's use of voltage-controlled elements; the
second was
the incorporation of microcomputers into the hardware to allow for
programming,
editing, and storage of patches). The poly61 represents a stage of
design
between the poly6 and the poly61m (midi). The poly61 a digitally
controlled
version of the poly6, it is the last in the line of Korg synthesizers
prior to
the introduction of midi.

This
Poly61's issues...NOTES:
Current issues and obvious problems

1. Need to check battery and identify version.

2. Sounds weak at first power up, sounds ok after it warmed up.
approx. 30 min to warm up. All six voices appear to work fine. The
Bando PSU
will probably need to be replaced.

3. Buttons
took some tapping or don't respond well to first pressing. A delayed
or jumping of the value displayed from a desired parameter could be
observed.

The
two Poly61 versions

The
Poly61 was produced in two versions, an old and a new
production
version. This Poly61 that I am working on is the newer production
model.

The first identifier between the two versions is the
internal battery; v.1 had a soldered drum battery right on the PCB, it
is recommended that if you have identified this on your Poly61 version
that you remove it, as these batteries tend to explode with age.
Version 2 has a battery that is seated on the synthesizers PCB that is
just like a cr3032 found on
almost all computer pc motherboards, it's about the size and dimensions
of a quarter and is easily removed with a small screw driver or
pick(more on this below).

Second difference in the
versions, in the older models you
will find the Poly61 v.1 had a number of extra boards
installed;
Antilog
amplifier board & a CPU Correction-board, that fixed a
known
cpu bug issue.

A
piece of histroy in my opinion, as I stated earlier,
this Korg model is one of the few manufactured synthesizers that
bridged the gap between the old analog keyboards of the 70's
to the digital synths of the 80's. I have a real love for the
sounds of the synths of the early 80's, I grew up with them
& their sound has become quite nostalgic.

The
Battery type
in my
Poly61 is a Panasonic BR2325 3volt, looks alot like the
standard
CR3032s found on PC motherboards and components.Panasonic BR2325

The
older issue
Poly61 had the battery type directly solderd onto cpu board KLM -475B -
THE BATTERY IS A BLUE ONE from VARTA and has the following written on it

3/170
DK3.6V.14
Std. Laden mit
17mA

The
older
production POLY61 battery looks like a small blue barrel. I have read a
number of related
articles about this battery type leaking or even exploding outward onto
the motherboard. : (

Remove
the battery if you have one of these. It should play fine even without
the battery, the battery is there only for preset reservation. So the
synth should work you just won't be able to save any preset changes. If
you have to replace this battery on your version of the Poly61,
remember it is very important to identify and match the battery type.
The actual work involved once you have the battery type is easy and
shouldn't be much of a problem if you know how to properly solder.

Push
Button Replacement

The
replacement
switch types for this version of Korg Poly-61 are:Momentary
Push Switches (11mm sides).
These are the square push buttons that you will find underneath the
large plastic push buttons found in the VALUE, PROGRAMMER,
KEY
ASSIGN & ARPPEGIATOR sections on the synthesizer above the
actual
keyboard. These push buttons will have to be solder removed and then
the replacements will have to be re-solderd back in.

These
momentary
push button parts were also found atVintage Planetforabout $20.00 a
full set.

History
of the SynthWhen
Sequential Circuits finally went belly-up, their research and
development into vector synthesis was picked up at Korg. This led to
the hugely successful Wavestation Synthesizer which was based on
Sequential's ProphetVS. The Wavestation incorporated the 2-dimensional
vector joystick of the ProphetVS which allowed the user to alter and
animate sounds.

The
Korg Wavestation was a vector synthesis synthesizer produced
in
the early 1990s. The
Wavestation's "Advanced Vector Synthesis" sound architecture resembled
early vector synths such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet VS.
Designed
as a "pure" synthesizer rather than a music workstation, &
unlike
any synthesizer prior to its release, was capable of generating
complex, lush timbres and rhythmic sequences.

Korg
added to this a second break-through form of synthesis: wave
sequencing, by which short segments of sampled audio waveforms could be
played one after the other and cross-faded into each other for some
complex and unusual tones, pads, textures and rhythms. The Wavestation
had 2MB of ROM based samples at your disposal. Programming is not
exactly easy but this great digital synth is capable of lush ambient
sounds and strange effects. It has the obligatory lowpass filter,
though it is non-resonant and digital sounding. Also on-board are some
multi-effects which are pretty nice. This synth is easily upgraded and
expandable with PCM cards too.

The
two primary
synthesis concepts designed into the Wavestation were Wave Sequencing
and vector synthesis, the latter Korg dubbed "Advanced Vector
Synthesis." Although the Korg Wavestation was the first keyboard that
used Wave Sequencing, its roots can be traced back to earlier wavetable
synthesizers, such as the PPG Wave of the early 80s and the Prophet VS
by Sequential Circuits, Inc., 1986. Wave Sequencing improved on Prophet
VS by incorporating the ability to crossfade up to 255 waveforms,
rather than only four. Another advancement was that a wave sequence
could be programmed to "jump" to any PCM wave in ROM memory, whereas
similar synths were designed to move sequentially through the
wavetables. The combination of vector sequencing and wave
sequencing really put the Wavestation into a league of it's own.

In
1991 the Wavestation EX, also called EXK-WS, was released (pictured
above). The EX added 150 more waveforms (4MB) including acoustic
instruments and drums. The EX also adds 8 multi-effects including: Mod
Pitch Shift-Delay, Stereo Compressor-Limiter/Gate, Vocoder, Overdrive
and Distortion effects, transposable keyboard and added MIDI
implementation and control.Here
are the
expanded effects of the KORG wavestation

The
Roland JX-8P was a 6 voice polyphonic synthesizer released by
Roland in 1984 to compete against the Yamaha DX7. Programming was
achieved either by means of a data slider and a silkscreened data table
designating each of the parameters, or by means of a separate unit, the
PG-800 programmer. It was possible to create monophonic sounds, using a
set of oscillators (2 from a patch) or 6 at the same time (with the
same patch) to create a 'denseness' effect in the patch. The built-in
chorus effect was switchable from off to two different modulation modes
for every patch. Memory organization consisted in two internal blocks
of 32 'patches', and a similar organization for the external cartridge.
Patch memory could be dumped to MIDI with a SYSEX message, with no
"handshake" necessary. Initially, the owner's manual offered a
programming sheet where parameters could be written on the blank lines.
SYSEX memory dumps could be sent or recognized as "one patch" and "one
bank". At the moment of receiving a memory dump, the synthesizer would
keep all received patches in a memory buffer. In order to write the
buffer to memory, the memory write lock had to be switched to "write"
mode. The memory write lock was a physical switch in the back of the
instrument and could be changed on the fly without the need of turning
the instrument off for fear of damaging the memory (which was common on
similar synthesizers).

Sequential
Circuits Inc., was a California-based synthesizer company that was
founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith and sold to Yamaha Corporation
in 1987. The company, throughout its lifespan, pioneered many
groundbreaking technologies and design principles that are still
practiced today. The ProOne was introduced in 1981, and sold for under
$1,000. The pro-one was promoted as the little brother to the Prophet
5. What is unique to the ProOne is that the oscillator frequency, pulse
width and the filter cut-off can be modulated, either directly or by
using the wheel, the filter envelope, the LFO or it's second Oscillator.

The
pro-one as I found it...

This ProOne arrived to me, DOA. The unit
had obviously been
sitting around for many years. The previous owner had no use
or time to
spend on repairing the unit. This ProOne for the most part was dead.
The drone
light would light up, and you could get noise from the audio out, but
that was
about it. After opening the ProOne up, taking a good look at the
circuit board,
nothing looked burnt or blown. What is nice is that ProOne under the
hood is
just one big PCB. I found all of the wiring cables, keyboard &
power supply
dust filled. This was going to be worth the fix even if I can't get the
keyboard to work, if I could get the CV INS to work this circuit board,
I maybe
could make this synth into a rack version. So I acquired this synth for
$85,
felt sure of myself that I was going to fix it and in doing so
supported my
love for vintage hardware and hopefully get out of it a valuable piece
of gear
for my music rig.

Here are the things I did, where I found
the parts I had to
get, and my procedures for overhauling this Sequential Circuits ProOne.
I am
determined to get this fully functioning for a low cost!

Identifying
your ProOne is essential before getting into repairs. The keyboards on
the ProOne were either j-wire types or membranes types. My ProOne is a
j-wire type keyboard. If you are reading this and have identified your
ProOne as a membrane type, I have a bit of bad news. It seems repairs
to the troublesome membrane switch contacts were only temporary at best
due to the inherent unreliability of the switch design. You might try
detaching your keyboard and DIY design your ProOne into a rack mount
version to be controlled either by CV or installing the synhouse midi
controller card for operation. An idea I am even considering just due
to the age of the keyboard and the lack of play it has. Even on the
J-wire types, the cost of totally overhauling and cleaning the keyboard
part of the synth, can be a bit pricey. I have connected the control
voltage & gate inputs of the ProOne to my synthesizers.com Q104
midi interface to test out the ProOne's operation through control
voltage control and it works perfect. This way I still can make use of
the ProOne without having to install the synhouse midi jack.

Power
Supply
Replacement

The
internal transformer power supply of my ProOne is very old and looks a
bit corroded, so in addition to working on the keyboard I want to
replace the transformer with a newer one. Now finding a power supply to
accomidate this older synth will seem tough on first try. Most of the
on-line sequential circuits repair websites, will either not have any
available transformers or will replace the power supply only if you buy
into much larger repair/modification services, making a simple job very
expensive. Not that some of the upgrades or modifications that they
offer aren't great additions to you ProOne, it's just that you may find
that suddenly just getting power to you vintage ProOne has become a
huge expense. It didtake
some time for
me to identify a modern day
compatible transformer that is the correct replacement to the original.

The
power transformer needed for the ProOne replacement is a type (Signal
Transformer DP 241-5-36) the D stands for a dual operation of
115/230v, see the spec sheet for
this transformer. You can find these available atDigi-keybut I recommend
calling Signal Transformer
direct (516)239-5777, to get the DP 241-5-36. Direct from
Signal
Transformer, the transformer can be bought for about $14.00
each.
Buy 2,
115/230v transformers if you can. For all of my synths when buying
repair parts I almost always buy 2. I like being able to repair things
on the fly rather than having to wait for the part to come in the mail.
You will always have good extra if you plan on
holding
on to your ProOne forever. Here is the
link
to the manufacturerSignal Transformer
Corpproduct# "DP
241-5-36"

Fuse for
Pro One

A
1/4 amp
Slo-Blo fuse is required for use with 110 VAC, and an 1/8 amp Slo-Blo
fuse is required for use with 220VAC. This is the factory fuse spec for
the ProOne. I have found that RadioShack fuse#270-1002 1/4 amp Fast
Acting Fuses work fine with the new Signal Transformer Dp 241-5-36.

Cleaning
the Pot
& switch controls

If
you can't get a hold of the Miller-Stephenson product. Use
a small
amount
of Deoxit Faderlube(5%), work the pot's shaft gently back-and-forth a
number of times. Use the 5% stuff so you don't gum up the
switches
and pots with residue. Here is the stuff I use, which you can order
on-line.

The
last thing needed to really get this ProOne back to a level of
functionality will be the wheelbox, for pitch & modulations. My
current options are, a repair the original. Build my own...read thisa
backlite wheel mod for a moog syntha
DIY mod wheel replacementor
buy the ProOne
kit fromsynthwood.DaveSmith
instruments (707)
963-7006 make a custom wheelbox, it is the one in the kit
from synthwood, I really don't really care if it's backlit or
not, I just
want a functioning durable wheelbox.

Rather
than buy an entire wheelbox kit, I decided on finding replacement parts
for fixing the broken one. Parts for this synth as well as many others
can be found atVintage PlanetBuy the
replacement parts that they had in stock cost about $30. And
the wheelbox was restored to full functioning. Part numbers change at
Vintage Planet as the part become available or are sold. So I don't
have a reference number to give. But finding parts is pretty easy on
their one rather large page listing of parts for many vintage keyboard
& synthesizers.